The Dominion of Xir, Present Day

"Jen." Danny whispers urgently to his sister as she whimpers in fear, "The Infected have left. The coast is clear."

Jen seizes control of herself and takes a quick glance around the tree she's hiding behind, confirming that the road was clear for them to make a dash for the Death House situated at the end of the cul-de-sac. Jen pulls out her pistol and grips it tightly, steeling herself for what's about to come next.

"Danny," Jen says breathlessly, "One of Xir's slaves is in the Death House now. We might need to -"

"I know." her brother replies grimly as he draws the gun Sheriff Clay had given to him, "We'll take things one step at a time."

It was not the answer Jen was looking for, but it would have to do. There was no time for the siblings to give each other a pep talk, not when they could be discovered at any moment.

"Roll for stealth." Danny quips and sprints down the road, making a bee line for the Death House. As Jen falls in behind him, a prickly sensation settles across Danny's entire body, as if hundreds of invisible eyes were hungrily watching him. Common sense told Danny that this was just a case of nerves, but bitter experience had long taught him otherwise. Invisible eyes, if they existed, were not the most outrageous thing to encounter in the hellscape that was now Earth. Pushing his worries away, Danny lunges for the main door of the Death House and to his surprise, the doorknob turns without resistance, granting entry.

"Critical success." Danny sighs in relief and nearly throws himself into the relative safety of the Death House. Jen follows close behind, quietly closing the door and locking it. From the direction of the kitchen, both of them could hear the noise of floorboards being pulled out.

"That girl is after the box." Danny whispers to Jen, recalling the strange box he found under the kitchen floorboards several days ago.

"Well, we've got these." Jen waves her gun with false bravado, "We can take a single slave."

"I was hoping that we wouldn't need to fight." Danny frowns, looking at the pistol Clay had given to him. He had seen death in the Virus Waste. He had even killed. But that was in self defense. What Jen wanted to do now felt different. Wrong even.

"The slave's after the same thing Archie told us about." Jen hisses back, "We can't get that box without confronting it. And the only way to make sure the slave keeps its mouth shut about us is to -"

"That's not an It, Jen." Danny snaps back in a hushed voice, "She's a girl. A human."

"Wake up, Danny." Jen narrows her eyes in frustration, "The slaves of Xir are our enemy. They would kill us if Xir ordered them to."

"I know that." Danny mulishly responds.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem, right?" Jen demands, staring hard at her brother.

No. There really shouldn't. The eunuchs that ran this town were a danger to both Danny and his sister. And Xir meant nothing but harm to both siblings. Taking out Xir's slaves was just the sensible thing to do.

The correct thing to do.

Hands wrapped around her throat, as she begged you to kill her. She begged and begged and begged. You knew she served Xir. She used you from the start. She wanted to face justice, didn't she? As a way of making it up to you.

And you still couldn't do it.

You couldn't give her what she wanted. What she deserved.

"ScarLo." Danny breathes hard, sweat dripping from his brow. He shuts his eyes, trying to hold back the tide of memories. This was not the place to be losing his shit.

"Danny?" Jen shakes her brother gently, concern all over her face, "You OK there?"

"Fine. Its the stress." Danny groans as he rubs his face, "Just give me a moment."

"Sure." Jen nods understandingly, but her eyes are glued to the kitchen entrance, waiting for the moment when the slave emerges with the box. As Danny centers himself, his eyes glance out of a nearby window.

"Down!" Danny roughly pushes Jen into a crouch and the pair huddle against the wall in silence. Before Jen can protest, a series of hooting noises can be heard from the road, sending a jolt of ice running down her spine.

The Infected were back.

"No way." Danny curses as he peeks over the window sill, stomach churning in agitation, "I killed him. I know I did."

As expected, approaching the Death House were a group of Infected in their usual battle dress of scavenged rags, weapons hanging almost carelessly from their hands. Jen squeezes up beside Danny to take a look as well, but the effort is already taking a toll on her reserves of courage. When their shoulders touch, Danny feels his sister's entire body trembling.

"You took down that guy?" Jen murmurs to her brother, pointing at a huge, muscular black man standing among the pack. The giant wanders about completely nude, not bothered in the least by the elements.

"Not him. The one standing slightly behind." Danny whispers back, watching as a man wearing a deer head mask pushes his way though the pack. Despite the newcomer's slight and wiry figure, the other Infected obligingly give way. The reaction of the black giant is even more pronounced as he regards the masked man with respect in his eyes. The masked man brandishes a pair of bloody kitchen knives, swinging his weapons vaguely in the direction of the Death House.

Stolen story; please report.

"Crap. They're going to rush this place." Jen bites out in dismay, "How good are you with that gun, Danny?"

"Its not him." her brother murmurs, lost in a reverie, "Same mask, different person."

The masked man was skinnier, much skinnier compared to his predecessor. And he did not wield that rifle. The rifle that killed -

"Ow!" Danny nearly shouts as Jen pulls his ear hard.

"Earth to Danny." Jen mutters through clenched teeth, "Enemy at the gates, remember?"

"Right. Right." Danny nods to himself, rubbing his sore ear. He killed Bambi back in Vermont and avenged Kinslee. That was at least one thing he had done right.

Both siblings raise their guns in readiness, awaiting the Infected gathering outside to charge. But then something unexpected happens.

The masked man abruptly stops his advance and begins growling to the other Infected. Danny had no way of understanding what they were talking about, but the look on the faces of the other pack members told him everything.

Fear.

"They're retreating." Jen nearly moans in utter relief, "Guess they didn't want to mess with us after all."

"Can't be." Danny shakes his head, "Have you ever seen Infected being scared of people?"

"No" Jen reluctantly agrees, "And there's just the two of us in here. Three if you count the slave. That Infected pack could have easily overrun the place."

"Something in this house spooked them." Danny concludes, "And I can make a good guess as to what it is."

"Yeah. Me too." Jen points with the barrel of her gun at the kitchen entrance. Both of them could now hear banging noises coming from somewhere within.

"Better get to it." Danny says with a grim expression. With their weapons at the ready, the siblings advance toward the kitchen. The banging noises get increasingly louder, with an edge of desperation to it.

"It won't work!" the voice of a young girl cries, "Why won't it work?"

Right next to a gaping hole in the floor is a fully robed and masked figure, the slave of Xir that had escaped from the Infected. A wooden box is in the slave's hands as she alternates between prying and slamming it against the floor, trying to get the box to open. Completely preoccupied with her task, the slave does not even notice Danny and Jen creep into the kitchen. Jen bites her lip, psyching herself up.

"I got this." she murmurs, "I can do it."

With a burst of speed, Jen pounces on the slave and kicks her to the floor, sending the box flying out of the slave's hands.

"HANDS ON THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD!" Jen demands, pushing the barrel of the gun into the slave's back, "DO IT! NOW!"

The slave wails incoherently in shock, taken completely by surprise. With an angry sweep of her arm, Jen tears the long beaked mask off the slave's face before proceeding to deliver a nasty pistol whip.

"Stop ... please ..." the slave moans in pain, thrashing impotently about on the floor as Jen continues to dish out the beating.

"Jen, I think she's trying to surrender." Danny hurriedly pulls his sister back. Killing in cold blood was not a line he was willing to cross.

"Danny?" a muffled cry from the slave interrupts whatever Jen is about to say. The slave shuffles forward on all fours, clutching to Danny's leg with an iron grip.

"Don't let her hurt me, Danny ..." the girl sobs.

"How did you know my name?" Danny blurts out in surprise as he pulls the slave off him.

"Danny ..." the slave repeats and lifts her head. Like the rest of Xir's priesthood, she had been shaven completely bald, even to the eyebrows. But Danny still manages to place the girl's face.

After all its not everyday you drink someone's pee.

"No." Danny gurgles as he staggers away, vision spinning.

"I prayed for this day," the slave smiles warmly as she blushes shyly, "when we would be able to meet again. Here in Maine."

"How? HOW?" Danny yells at the top of his voice, caution thrown to the wind.

"Great Xir saved me Danny." says the slave, "I was granted the perfection of unending time."

"THERE"S NO SUCH THING!" Danny hollers as Jen looks on in confusion, "I SAW YOU DIE! YOU DIED!"

"Great Xir saved me." the girl rises to her feet, "Just like Maine was saved from the virus."

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Jen snaps, her gun leveled at the slave.

"Say my name, Danny." the slave spreads her arms wide, as if she were beckoning her lover, "Please."

"Kinslee."

And with that single word, Danny throws himself into the arms of the one he thought he had failed ...